Rob Blake has been a revered figure for Colorado hockey fans, and with good reason. He was, after all, one of the Avalanche’s stars during the 2001 Stanley Cup run.

Whenever he returned as an opponent, Blake received a warm reception.

Not anymore.

He has become Public Enemy No. 1.

The fond memories have been replaced by the sight of Avalanche winger Peter Mueller crumpled on the ice. That’s why Blake probably will be greeted with thunderous booing each time he touches the puck tonight as the Sharks-Avalanche playoff series moves to the Pepsi Center for Game 3.

Mueller suffered a concussion in the April 4 regular-season game against the Sharks after being slammed awkwardly into the boards by Blake. And if that weren’t enough, Blake had the Avalanche — and certainly its fan base — fuming about an overtime cross-check that flattened TJ Galiardi in the Sharks’ 6-5 victory Friday.

As far as Blake is concerned, both hits were clean. No penalties were called. While Blake added that he never wants to see anyone hurt, he called the play in which Mueller was injured “just hockey.”

That, of course, doesn’t appease Avalanche supporters who haven’t seen Mueller — an offensive spark plug with 20 points in 15 games after being traded from Phoenix — in the lineup since.

But Blake has no problem with getting jeered.

“The playoffs will bring that out,” he said. “Fans there follow their team with passion. I’m sure I’ll be treated the same way as when I went back into L.A. as a member of the Avalanche. You’re not on their team anymore, and they let you know it.”

Blake, 40, is used to being a source of opposing fan wrath. He is near the end of a Hall of Fame-worthy career as a defenseman with an occasional nasty edge who has never been shy about delivering bone-rattling checks.

His age also makes him an easy target for heckling.

“I hear it a lot out there,” Blake said of the old-man comments. “It’s kind of fun. There are days when after I’ve had a bad game where I’ll look in the mirror myself and say: ‘Hey old guy, what are you doing?’ So I don’t get extremely worked up over that stuff after 20 years in the game.”

Blake might have been staring at the mirror after the 2-1 loss in Game 1.

He was in the penalty box when the Avalanche scored its first goal. Later, Colorado tallied the winning goal in the final minute on an unlucky play when the puck deflected off Blake’s skate and into the net.

But he had a stronger performance in the Game 2 victory, which included scoring the Sharks’ second goal.

That was more reminiscent of the way Blake had played in the final weeks of the season when there was a noticeable jump in his skating stride. Part of it, said coach Todd McLellan, was the return of his defensive partner, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, from a knee injury. But Blake also was showing why the Sharks made him the team captain this season.

“I think our bad spell a month ago really engaged Rob Blake,” McLellan said of the six-game losing streak. “It entrenched him as the leader of this team. He really took charge down the stretch.”

How exactly he does that stays mostly behind the closed doors of the room. Center Joe Thornton describes Blake as a quiet leader.

“But when he does say something, it’s with a firm tone,” Thornton added.

Rookie Jason Demers said Blake will pull him aside with words of advice. But he has noticed that when Blake talks between periods of games, it’s always to the team as a group.

“He doesn’t like to single anybody out,” Demers said. “He’s one of those guys that when he talks, you listen — and you really better be listening, because he’s probably saying something that you should take to heart.”

What Blake takes to heart is his time in Colorado.

He was a Los Angeles Kings mainstay for 11 seasons before being traded to the Avalanche late in the 2001 season. It was a great move for Colorado, as Blake recorded six goals and 13 assists for the Cup-winning Avalanche.

He played another four seasons in Colorado before returning to Los Angeles and then coming to San Jose last season.

Blake has nothing but glowing things to say about the Avalanche organization. That good will, however, isn’t being reciprocated after the Mueller hit and then his open-ice clocking of Galiardi on Friday. After the game, Colorado president Pierre Lacroix made it clear he wanted the NHL to review the play.

McLellan said he would be “shocked” if any suspension came down, and Blake added that the check wasn’t that hard.

“I wouldn’t even call that a hit,” Blake said. “It was a collision.”

Two days earlier, Colorado captain Adam Foote was talking about the Mueller incident and had disputed the notion that Blake is a cheap-shot artist.

“He finishes his hits, and he’s good at it,” Foote said. “I’ve played with him long enough to know that he’s not that kind of player. But he can hurt you with a hit. We just have focus on not trying to hit Rob Blake or it will take us off our game.”

The focus of Colorado fans tonight will be to ride Blake.

“They’ll love that team I was on forever,” he said. “But now they have this year’s team. It’s 2010. They love this team, and I understand that.”

Otto Warmbier was arrested in January 2016 at the end of a brief tourist visit to North Korea. He had been medically evacuated and was being treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center when he died at age 22.